Activation of the left superior temporal gyrus of musicians by music-derived sounds.

Previous studies have suggested that professional musicians comprehend features of music-derived sound even if the sound sequence lacks the traditional temporal structure of music. We tested this hypothesis through behavioral and functional brain imaging experiments. Musicians were better than nonmusicians at identifying scrambled pieces of piano music in which the original temporal structure had been destroyed.

Distinct Inter-Joint Coordination during Fast Alternate Keystrokes in Pianists with Superior Skill.

Musical performance requires motor skills to coordinate the movements of multiple joints in the hand and arm over a wide range of tempi. However, it is unclear whether the coordination of movement across joints would differ for musicians with different skill levels and how inter-joint coordination would vary in relation to music tempo. The present study addresses these issues by examining the kinematics and muscular activity of the hand and arm movements of professional and amateur pianists who strike two keys alternately with the thumb and little finger at various tempi.

Control of multi-joint arm movements for the manipulation of touch in keystroke by expert pianists.

Background: Production of a variety of finger-key touches in the piano is essential for expressive musical performance. However, it remains unknown how expert pianists control multi-joint finger and arm movements for manipulating the touch. The present study investigated differences in kinematics and kinetics of the upper-limb movements while expert pianists were depressing a key with two different touches: pressed and struck.

Embryo development after intracytoplasmic sperm injection can be predicted by assessment of sperm nuclear chromatin.

Purpose: To assess the influence of structural differences in sperm nuclei on embryo development in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Methods: Semen obtained from forty-four infertile patients who underwent ICSI was examined. In assessing blastocyst development, only those patients who had successfully obtained over five fertilized eggs were included to exclude any oocyte factors ( = 22).

The present status of artificial oocyte activation in assisted reproductive technology.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is the most effective treatment for achieving fertilization in assisted reproductive technology (ART). However, fertilization failure occurs. The incidence of fertilization failure after ICSI is 1-5%.